East Midlands Airport boss welcome travel test changes

Bosses at East Midlands Airport have welcomed major changes to travel rules announced by the government.

For double-vaccinated passengers coming to England pre-departure Covid tests will be scrapped from Friday.

They will also be able to take lateral flow tests rather than a PCR test and from Sunday will not be required to self-isolate while awaiting results.

Claire James, the airport's managing director, said the news was a "relief" after a "torrid" two years.

She said the latest restrictions had had another "devastating impact" on the travel industry and a "massive impact" on consumer confidence.

"It's been a torrid time for the last two years for the industry," she said.

"My passenger numbers have been 20% again of pre-Covid levels as a result of these restrictions.

"What we need now is a sustained recovery for the industry and we need to build that consumer confidence back."

However, Ms James said she was hopeful the travel industry could recover from the pandemic.

"We absolutely see a recovering happening this year," she said.

"We know the demand is there. We saw it in October when the restrictions were lifted.

"People want to see their family and friends - they want that well-earned break.

"We just need to have the policy there to enable people to do it so they can book with certainty."

The change to testing comes after travel firms called for them to be removed.

Airlines said passenger testing was making no real impact. Data released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday suggested one in 15 people in England had the virus at the end of 2021.

Airlines also said compulsory testing had held back the sector's recovery.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].